If he abides by the terms of the plea deal he could face a maximum of 15 years in prison, a serious departure from the original penalty of life in prison. Ciceron, a 29-year-old college student, has no prior criminal history.

During the hearing Ciceron admitted to acting as a lookout the night of the homicide and gave details about the incident. Afterward he offered an apology to Rafael Zaldivar, the father of the slain 19-year-old.

"I would like to apologize to you and your family," Ciceron told Rafael Zaldivar, who was seated in the front row of the gallery. "I wanted to testify truthfully to bring you and your family closure."

Listening to the details of his son's death was brutal.

"It just tore me up," Rafael Zaldivar said. "This is just the beginning."

Last week a Sentinel investigation revealed that Okafor, who was out of jail on home confinement and on an ankle monitor, had 109 alerts during the 10 weeks he was out on bond. Several of those alerts were overnight.

Rafael Zaldivar has closely followed his son's case and said he is outraged that the Orange County Jail's community corrections program failed to adequately monitor Okafor and called for the firing of Orange County Jail Chief Michael Tidwell.

"My son is dead because you didn't do your job," said an increasingly emotional Zaldivar as he held up his son's death certificate. "If you're doing your job, explain to me why I got this [death certificate] in the mail. Explain it to my family, explain it to the community!"

After the Sentinel's inquiries, Tidwell earlier this month ordered an internal investigation into the home confinement unit employees who were supposed to supervise Okafor. Seven employees have since been re-assigned. Orange County Mayor Teresa Jacobs has ordered a parallel investigation by the county's professional standards unit.

The National Institute of Corrections also is slated to review the community corrections programs, including the home confinement unit, according to the mayor's office.

During the hearing, Ciceron testified briefly before Orange Circuit Judge John Marshall Kest. He said he was awoken by Okafor the night of the homicide and was asked to act as a lookout.

During earlier interviews with police, Ciceron said he thought Okafor was going to steal something and sell it to make money to pay his lawyer for an earlier May home-invasion case. It was not until the next day, Ciceron said in police statements, that he learned someone had been killed.

Ciceron testified Wednesday that Okafor told him the trio of armed men broke into the house on Bernadino Drive where the May home-invasion case took place and shot three people in the head. One of the three men asked "Did you miss?"

Ciceron said Okafor told him he sent Wallace back into the house after the shooting to see if the victims were dead. Siblings Brienna and Remington Campos, who were both shot in the head, survived and had fled from the home.

Police say Alex Zaldivar and Brienna Campos were targeted because they planned to testify against Okafor the following day in the May home-invasion case. The third shooting victim, Remington Campos, was not a witness in the May case.

Okafor, Wallace and Godfrey are charged with first-degree murder and could face the death penalty if convicted.

Sentencing in Ciceron's case will be delayed until after the murder trial has concluded. He will remain held at the Orange County Jail.